PLAIN TALK

Cal Thomas has some suggestions.

One thing the United States can and should do, however, is to launch its own counter-insurgency campaign. Die-hard Saddam Hussein and Baath party loyalists are being aided by infiltrators from Iraq's neighbors. Their express intention is to kill Americans in the belief they can make us cut and run.

We should make them pay a heavy price for this. If we can catch the plotters, they should be tried before a military tribunal and, if found guilty, executed. We should also send word that if we can locate their relatives, we'll destroy their houses and confiscate their property. That's what the Israelis do and it serves as a partial deterrent for all but the most fanatical.

Instead of sitting ducks, U.S. forces should be prowling lions, getting them before they get our people. How best to do this is the question pentagon leaders must answer.